Sunday, June 11, 2017

I was scrolling through my Instagram feed recently and saw a post that said "If you don't know yet, we also cater to all vegans...", from a restaurant I'd never visited before. Which is how I came to have lunch the very next day at Station 16 Seafood Restaurant & Bar in midtown.

When I walked in the door, I told the hostess I'd read that they had vegan options. So she handed me a separate menu listing the vegan and vegetarian menu items. There were only three listings for vegans, but they all looked like things I'd be happy to try. I ended up ordering the Noodles Delight, which was a bowl of rice noodles, bean sprouts, green beans, and fried tofu, topped with slivered almonds and toasted sesame seeds. It was simple, but very, very good. I expect to go back there for it often.

Station 16 Seafood Restaurant & Bar is located at 1118 16th Street, and their phone number is 916-228-4042. Their website address is http://www.sacstation16.com/, and their Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/sacstation16/. The restaurant is open for lunch Monday through Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; for brunch Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.; and for dinner every day beginning at 3:00 p.m.

Monday, June 5, 2017

I click on vegan Facebook posts all the time and have a Sacramento Vegan Facebook page, so I'm guessing that's the reason ads for Tirupathi Indian Vegetarian Kitchen suddenly began showing up in my news feed. So I made the drive up to Folsom a few days ago to try it out.

The restaurant has a very extensive menu, and all of the vegan items are clearly marked. Whenever I go to an Indian restaurant, I always have to order samosas, fried pastries filled with a mixture of seasoned peas, potatoes, and onions. The samosas at Tirupathi were excellent, and I could happily have just eaten another plate or two of them and called it lunch.

That wouldn't have made for much of a blog post, though, so I thought I'd better order a main course too. Among the specialties at Tirupathi are dosas, which are described on the menu as a South Indian savory crepe. I'd never had dosas before, so I decided I'd give them a try. The problem was that there were so many different types of dosas listed on the menu, and not all of them included a description to explain what they were filled with. I ended up ordering the masala dosa, which was filled with a potato and onion mixture. It came with a variety of chutneys, as well as a lentil dipping sauce.

The menu at Tirupathi included many different items I've never had before, so I hope to go back and check out some of their other vegan options in the future. For example, they have a dish called uthappam, which they describe as a thicker version of the dosa, cooked on both sides, and resembling a pizza.

Tirupathi Indian Vegetarian Kitchen is located at 1870 Prairie City Road, Suite 500, in Folsom, and their phone number is 916-351-9990. They don't appear to have a website, but their Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/Tirupathifolsom/. I was unable to find a copy of their menu online, so I took photos of each page, which are posted at the end of this article. The restaurant is open daily and serving meals during these times: breakfast -- 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.; lunch -- 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; snacks -- 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.; and dinner -- 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.